Measurement and manipulation of aroma delivery allows control of perceived fruit flavour in low‐ and regular‐fat milks

Summary To investigate the relationship between aroma delivery and perception, low‐fat (LF) (0.1 g per 100 mL) and regular‐fat (RF) (3.6 g per 100 mL) milk samples were prepared with the same amount of ethyl hexanoate. Sensory analysis was carried out using around ninety panellists (four replicates each) and simultaneous in vivo aroma delivery was measured for every sample. Panellists rated the fruity flavour intensity higher in LF samples using a paired comparison method (P < 0.0001, one‐tailed test). In vivo delivery was expressed as the ratio between the maximum breath concentrations (Imax), measured in the LF and RF samples (i.e. Imax LF milk/Imax RF milk), to remove person‐to‐person variation. The sensory results were in accordance with differences in aroma delivery, with LF samples delivering nearly twice as much ethyl hexanoate as RF samples. Aroma content in LF samples was adjusted so that aroma delivery in vivo was the same for both LF and RF samples. In this case, panellists could not differentiate the samples, showing a good correlation between aroma delivery and perception.